The Preparation of the Seder and the Passover Meal

The Seder Dish is arranged as shown. (It should be noted, however, that there are other customs, too, and as in all such matters, each family should follow its own faithful tradition.) The Seder Dish consists of the following:

• Zeroa — usually a roasted shank-bone with some meat on it: In remembrance of the קרבן פסח (the Pascal Lamb) which also was roasted. It is called "זרוע" in reference to our redemption from Egypt by Hashem which was "בזרוע נטויה" (“with an outstretched arm” meaning, in full public sight of the world). To be eaten on Yom Tov, but only during daytime.
• Beitzah — a hard-boiled egg (some have the custom to roast it in its shell, too): In remembrance of the קרבן חגיגה of the 14th of Nissan brought by the people together with the קרבן פסח in the time of the Beis HaMikdash. A hard-boiled egg is used rather than a piece of meat or some other foodstuff because an egg is usually a main component part of the mourner’s meal on his return from the cemetery and in this context it symbolises our mourning for the still-not-rebuilt Beis HaMikdash. An egg on our Seder Plate also recalls, במז"ר, that the night of the coming...